Pumpkin-Red Lentil soup

I’ve made this soup three times last week…you can’t get enough of it. Making the same dish several times can be a bit boring but at least you can try to swipe out or add some ingredient until you get it down to the point, perfect. For example, the first time I made this soup I didn’t use a potato, but the second time I had one potato sitting on the counter for some days so just decided to put it in, and it made the soup even better, creamier.
This soup can be served for lunch with some croutons, or for dinner, before the main dish. and is always a winner as leftovers.

The recipe calls for turmeric, this spice is so good for you, it’s a strong healer for many many diseases/ health issues (online you can find a big list), but this week I found out that our body can assimilate better its nutritional compounds when eaten with black pepper. So now, every time I use turmeric I try to remember to add a bit of ground pepper too in the dish I’m preparing.

•INGREDIENTS(for 4 servings)•
→500 gr roughly of pumpkin (no skin, no seeds)
→200 gr red lentils
→1 large potato (400 gr roughly)
→1 medium onion
→4 cups of vegetable broth
→1 inch piece of fresh ginger
→juice of 1/2 lemon
→1 tsp turmeric powder
→extra virgin olive oil
→salt and pepper

Take the skin off the pumpkin, scoop the seeds out, cut into small cubes and measure 500 gr roughly. Peel the potato, chop into equal size cubes and set aside.
In a small pot start to heat the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
Chop the onion and sautè with 1 tbls of olive oil, some coarse salt and the turmeric.
Keep stirring and once the onion becomes transparent add the pumpkin and potato cubes and the broth. Then wash your red lentils in a fine strainer under cold water until the water is transparent and add them to the pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for 25-30 minutes until the lentils are cooked and vegetables breaking apart.
Turn off the heat, grate the ginger and add to the soup, together with some black pepper, then blend with an immersion blender until the soup is smooth. Add the lemon juice and serve into bowls with a drizzle of olive oil.